


"Wellll, A Fake Relationship Is Better Than None, Right?"

by martziey



Category: Miraculous Ladybug, Ouran High School Host Club - All Media Types
Genre: Arranged Marriage, Crossover, Fake Marriage, Fake/Pretend Relationship, Fluff, Humor, Identity Reveal, Post Reveal, fake/arranged marriage, felix agreste you dick you better come to the engagement party, love square, not unrequited love, oblivious children
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-02-07
Updated: 2016-03-17
Packaged: 2018-05-18 17:30:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 2,323
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5936872
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/martziey/pseuds/martziey
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>(note: Tamaki and Haruhi do make an appearance, but it's fine to read even if you haven't watched OHSHC)</p><p>Gabriel Agreste was impressed. That's why he decided on setting up an arranged marriage between his son and his prodigal apprentice. So, over the years, he formulates and acts out a plan with his partners-in-law-and-crime, the Dupain-Cheng parents, to slowly draw Marinette and Adrien together, so it wouldn't be too much of a problem.</p><p>When he tells Adrien that he was engaged to Marinette, and when Tom and Sabine inform Marinette, the two still refuse to notice that they had actual feelings for each other. They decide to announce to their friends that they were dating that whole time(they weren't but oh well details schm-etails) and are now engaged, and they delve into the world of a fake-engagement and a fake-marriage with not-so-fake feelings (featuring: a very fucking angry Alya, a very winky-face-ish Nino, and awkward adults).</p><p>Gabriel, Tom, and Sabine were expecting the plan to go smoothly and perfectly without too much shit. Well, they were wrong.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. gabriel agreste the 'professional' matchmaker

Gabriel Agreste was impressed. That did not happen very often, especially not in response to an amateur/quite young fashion designer, though it seemed the girl, Marinette, certainly knew her craft. He remembered her from years ago, when she won a design contest held in his son's schools. She was talented, and clever, as she made sure her work was still indistinguishable from the copycat's (aka Chloe Bourgeois). He looked into her files and got Adrien to tell him more about the girl, who was class president, and very kind to everyone, and even had at least a little bit of patience with the brat, Chloe.

It was then that Monsieur Agreste decided to rethink setting up his son, Adrien, with the Mayor's daughter Chloe, and instead, behind Adrien's back, decided to contact the Dupain-Chengs, Marinette's parents. He told them, if she kept the good work up, he would personally recommend her to Paris's best design school and recruit her as an intern in a few years' time, if they were willing to help him subtly push Marinette towards his son, Adrien. He needed the business to stay in the family, and since Adrien clearly didn't want to be a model or fashion designer forever, Marinette was the perfect candidate. 

Adrien was _extremely_ surprised to notice that his father was slowly detaching their connection with the mayor and his daughter. Gabriel Agreste had better, stronger, political connections with politicians of higher status than the mayor of Paris, so it wasn't too much of a loss. Adrien was even more surprised to find the Dupain-Chengs catering to all of his father's occasional galas from then on, each time with Marinette in tow.

Over time, as Gabriel closely observed them, the two certainly got closer (especially after a certain odd event that Gabriel didn't _know_ what it was, but their interactions changed). Marinette stopped being a stuttering mess and always held casual, friendly, and even _playful_ conversations. At some point, she gained confidence to wear her designs to every event she was invited to. Adrien was to report to his father nearly everything he learned about Marinette. Of course, he knew his friend wanted to be a fashion designer, and she would be very happy to find out that world-famous designer, Gabriel Agreste, was so impressed by her skills, so Adrien did his best to help, even if he wasn't able to rant to his father about how Marinette was hi- _the_ amazing Ladybug.

***********

Adrien had quit his modeling career a while ago, and his father took it surprisingly well, even when Adrien told him he wanted to major in physics and not fashion. He even got his son into one of the best universities in France for aspiring scientists. His father just kept surprising him more and more, and to be honest, Adrien was expecting that his father had some ulterior motive, and it turns out there was.

When his father invited him over for tea one weekend, he was surprised, even though their relationship had begun to stitch itself back together over the years, it was still surprising to be invited over for no apparent reason.

Adrien sat a little stiffly, wondering what his father would say, and if it was really anything good.

"Ah, Adrien, you're here. I've been meaning to talk to you about something."

 _Good afternoon to you too, Dad._ Instead of saying anything, Adrien just nodded.

"Do you remember me telling you about finding a new successor to the company, since you would rather be a _scientist_?" He drawled the word scientist, though he was secretly happy Adrien decided to not be in the business, as he has neither the drive, interest, nor the ability to handle any sort of business.

Adrien nodded again, wondering where this conversation was going.

"I have found someone worthy of being the successor. I've already been considering them for years, and keeping them under close watch recently.." 

_As long as it's not Chloe._ "..it's Mademoiselle Dupain-Cheng-" Adrien wasn't too surprised (she really was amazing and it did fit), but he smiled wide in happiness for Marinette. "-who will soon be Madame Cheng-Agreste." 

_WHAT._ "E-excuse me?" Adrien sputtered. _What, is my father marrying Marinette or-_

"I've spoken to her parents, and they've helped me arrange for you and Marinette to be married. I wanted the business to stay in the family, and this is the only other way. And do not act like this is a bad match, as I have seen lots of interaction between you and Marinette, you clearly have feelings for her." 

_Well, she is Ladybug, and while, yeah, I do have a crush on her, I don't want to force marriage on her, and she clearly has no interest in me, and I mean we're just friends, y'know? At least it's my best friend and not someone like Chloe or something.._

His father continued sipping his tea while they both sat in silence, Adrien picking at a fancy scone, suddenly having lost his appetite. "If you aren't going to say anything, you may very well leave. I just have to say that your cousin Tamaki and his fiancee, Haruhi, will be coming over for the engagement party and wedding. Felix may be attending, but he is in England right now for his law degree." 

Gabriel encouraged Adrien to keep in touch with the son of his late wife's sister, seeing a bit of Elisabeth and Anne-Sophia in the older boy. He didn't care as much for Felix though, the son of Gabriel's half-brother, Elias, who, even though he handled the law firm that did every case for the Agreste fashion empire, never really kept in contact with the family.

 _You informed Tamaki before you even informed me? The one getting married?!_ Adrien nodded to his father solemnly before exiting with as stoic of a face as he could manage, though Gabriel could see that he was failing. 

_Okay hopefully, Marinette already knows so I don't have to tell her._


	2. failing at flailing ft. marinette and adrien

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> basically, marinette doesn't know yet and adrien has to figure out how to tell her without the both of them dying.

Adrien was close to hyperventilating as he attempted to calm himself in front of Marinette's apartment door. He didn't really succeed, as he was still nervous and slightly sweaty as Marinette opened the door. _Oh god, maybe I should've asked Gorilla to drive me here instead of taking the metro and getting off at all the wrong stops. I really, really, really hope she already knows, because if I have to tell her, she might just.. Well I don't know but I'm scared to find out._

"Adrien?" Marinette asked, a little confused as she took in the sight of the sweaty, nervous, blonde model in front her. "Did you run all the way here?"

"No. I u-used the metro." Adrien took in a few deep breaths, almost panting as he spoke. " _Mon dieu,_ I need to sit down." 

Marinette smiled at him, giggling a bit as she invited him in. "Oh, _minou,_ you now you could've just come as Chat Noir instead of going through the metro. It would've saved you a lot of time. You look like you're about to pass out, do you want something to drink?" She asked. 

"Water would be fine," Adrien managed to say after a long pause. _Oh shit, what if she doesn't know, she's not acting like she knows, oh shit, do I have to tell her?_

"Alright." Marinette came back a minute later with a glass full of water and she placed it in front of Adrien, who grabbed it and drank nearly everything in one gulp. Marinette raised her eyebrows but didn't say anything.

"So… why did you come, Adrien? We don't have a patrol scheduled for tonight, and even if we did, we usually meet up later at night, and usually not here." 

"Um, I might have some news that I just found out and you're probably not going to like it." Adrien did his best to speak as clearly and slowly as he could, but he still sounded a bit breathy and nervous.

"Oh? What is it?" She took a seat next to him and his breath hitched at the physical contact, which made the whole situation a lot harder. _I was barely able to think clearly when I entered the apartment, how am I supposed to think at all with Marinette leaning on my shoulder?_

"Uh-well, um, my dad just told me this, so keep in mind I had no idea at all-" "No idea about what?" "Apparently, we're in an arranged marriage."

" _WHAT!!!??_ " Marinette sounded like something in between a screech and a high-pitched squeak. "Oh, um, y-you're joking, right?" When she saw the crestfallen look on his face she blanched a bit. "Adrien, _please_ tell me you're just joking." 

"Sorry, my Lady." He said sincerely, watching her freeze up at the old nickname that he hadn't used since they had revealed themselves to each other. A flicker of something he couldn't identify ( _it didn't seem like fear_ ) glazed over her eyes before she blinked a few times and let out a long sigh.

"How are we going to tell our friends?" She said after a long, very awkward pause. "Alya would freak." He noticed how pale she was, like she had just seen a ghost ( _a ghost of crushes past_ ). She was biting her lip, looking pretty unsure and worried. _Shit, Adrien, don't look at her fucking lips. Now answer her question.._

 _Um, oh shit._ "Uh, I was think that we wouldn't tell them at all?" 

Marinette sent him an odd look. "Why would we do that?"

"You said it yourself, they would freak if they found out it was an arranged marriage. And I'm pretty sure dad would get some criticism if the press found out he set his son up in an old-fashioned arranged marriage, and while I don't really care about 'family honor', I don't want the press interfering more than they already have to." Adrien rambled, making weird, flailing, hand motions that Marinette could barely interpret. 

"Then what do you think we should do?"

"Um, well, maybe we should claim that we've secretly been dating all this time because of like, press and stuff, and um, say that we're engaged now?" Adrien said it as more of a questionable statement and not an actual plan. 

"How do you propose we do this without Alya killing me-I mean, the _both_ of us?" _Knowing Alya, Marinette was probably right._

"I don't know, I guess we'll deal with it." Adrien shrugged.

_What a great plan, Agreste. She’ll totally love you now! Maybe I should let Alya kill me…._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Even though this chapter is in Adrien's point of view (3rd person limited) I'll try to have Marinette's perspective next time. Basically, she was freezing up because all the feelings of adrien/chat that she had been trying to bury have started to resurface again and she's really worried because it seems that adrien doesn't like her and doesn't want to get married to her and she's been trying to keep herself away from him (she even dated nathanael for like a month during high school but then they both decided they were better off as friends and nath is now dating someone he met at art school).
> 
> Please comment and feel free to dish out constructive criticism! (and thanks to everybody who commented on the first chapter)-
> 
> Mare


	3. mari's dying inside ft. a comforting kwami

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> as the title says, mari is dying, and tikki is being the ultimate mom-kwami  
> (AND IM REAL SORRY ABOUT NEVER UPDATING)

Marinette was dying inside. She thought she had already buried her old schoolgirl girl on Adrien after she found out he was Chat, and apparently it felt like resurfacing again. _Pull yourself together, you're Ladybug for God's sake!_

Now they had to figure out a way to tell Alya that she and Adrien were engaged, but without revealing it was an arranged marriage. And also without being murdered by Alya. _What are we supposed to do? What the hell am_ I _supposed to do?!_

When she imagined her and Adrien getting engaged (not that she ever imagined _that_ , these days) it was always romantic and heartfelt. She didn't imagine being told she was in an arranged marriage with him, especially in the most awkwardest, unromantic way possible. 

_Why so was it so un-romantic one might ask? One: it included my crush for him resurfacing. That was supposed to happen when we somehow both decided we liked each other, not because it was set off by a goddamn arranged marriage!_

Basically, as much as she was trying to keep her chill (actually, she doesn't have any), she was still dying inside. Luckily, Adrien had made up some stupid excuse about having to go home and feed Plagg (she knew Plagg was _always_ in his jacket pocket) and had dashed out the door as quickly as possible. Which meant she was alone with only Tikki for comfort, because she couldn't exactly talk to Alya about this.

"How could my parents do this to me?" Marinette asked, curled up clutching a fluffy pink weighted blanket (a present from Alya, in case Marinette ever had a panic attack) to her chest. 

Tikki nuzzled against her hair in an attempt at comfort. "Oh, Marinette. I'm sure your parents only wanted what was best for you! Besides, at least it's Adrien and not someone you don't like or something.."

"I know that but I have a lot of reasons to be upset by this arranged marriage! One, I want Adrien to marry me because he loves me, not because he's forced into it. Also, is this the only reason I'm up so high in the fashion industry when I've just started? Because Mr. Agreste is making his son marry me?"

"I'm sure that's not true! You're genuinely talented! I'm sure Mr. Agreste recognized that and just gave you a little push." _Well, maybe Tikki's right, but still.._

"I _am_ right!" Tikki chirped, crossing her arms, pausing her 'comfort mode' for a second.

"Did you just read my mind?" Marinette asked in surprise. She knew kwami were magical, but she was pretty sure Tikki _couldn't_ read her mind. "Or did I just say that out loud?" She did that a lot, so it really wouldn't be surprising.

"No, your facial expressions basically showed what you were thinking." Marinette had an array of easily readable facial expression. Alya once considered taking pictures of all of them and making a guide. Maybe she did, maybe she didn't, nobody knows.. 

"Oh," Marinette said sheepishly. "Well, I don't think I've asked this before, but do kwami have other powers besides the ones we already know you, Plagg, Nooroo, Buzzii, Wayzz, and Vixx have?"

"Boy, do I have a story to tell you!" Tikki giggled, happy to have something that would distract Marinette from the marriage for a short while. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'M SO SORRY I HAVEN'T UPDATED IN A WHILE AND IM REALLY REALLY SORRY THAT THIS IS SO DAMN SHORT. I've had a whole lot of homework and a lot of stuff going on, and almost no time, along with a week-long dare that I wouldn't read or write fanfiction. So yea. This is really just more of a filler chapter while I try to figure out the plot and what else I'm going to write. Next chapter is mostly going to be marinette's pov, along with an appearance from our favorite journalist and Queen Bee shall appear soon (NB: Buzzii= I dunno her kwami name I guess)! If you're still reading even though I'm such an inconsistent updater then thanks! Please comment or critique if you have any, anything constructive is accepted!
> 
> btw if you'd like to scream into the void w/ me my tumblr url is also martziey! (PLEASE PM ME IF YOU HAVE GOOD PLOT IDEAS, I REALLY LIKE THIS FIC AND I WANT TO CONTINUE IT WITH AS MUCH CONSISTENCY AND GOOD PLOT STUFF AS POSSIBLE)

**Author's Note:**

> okay so that was my first miraculous ladybug fic, i hope it doesn't suck, i'll probably be free to post every few days or so (unless i get shitloads of homework). feel free to ask questions and comment and spam me with questions on my side-tumblr @martziey for art and writing schizz. thanks!


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